Stop uranium work, U.N. agency tells Iran

Tough resolution supported by U.S. promises to check on compliance

GEORGE JAHN, Associated Press

Published 5:30 am, Sunday, September 19, 2004

VIENNA, AUSTRIA - For the first time, 35 nations in the U.N. atomic watchdog agency demanded Saturday that Iran freeze all work on uranium enrichment — a technology that can be used for nuclear arms — and said they would judge Tehran's compliance in two months.

The resolution passed by the agency was its toughest yet on Tehran but didn't go as far as the United States had sought — stopping short of saying Iran will automatically be sent to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions if it fails to meet the demands by November.

U.S. officials, however, insisted the 35-member board of the International Atomic Energy Agency must refer Iran to the council when it meets again on Nov. 25 if Tehran doesn't comply.

"The time for decisive action is approaching," said Jackie Sanders, the chief U.S. delegate to the IAEA board meeting. "To wait until the IAEA finds the nuclear weapons ... is to wait until it is too late."

The United States says Iran's nuclear program is aimed at producing weapons, a claim Tehran denies.

The resolution passed unanimously Saturday said the board "considers it necessary" that Iran suspend all uranium enrichment and related programs. And it expressed alarm at Iranian plans to convert more than 40 tons of raw uranium into uranium hexafluoride — the gas that when spun in centrifuges turns into enriched uranium.

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It also said it "strongly urges" Iran to meet all demands by the agency in its investigation of the country's nearly two decades of clandestine nuclear activity, including unrestricted access to sites, information and personnel that can shed light on still unanswered questions on whether Tehran was interested in the atom for nuclear weapons.

It called on the IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei to provide a review of the findings of a probe of Iran's nuclear activities, which Tehran insists are strictly tailored toward generating electricity.

Suggesting that the Islamic Republic could answer to the U.N. Security Council should it defy the demands, the resolution said the next board meeting in November "will decide whether or not further steps are appropriate" in ensuring Iran complies.

ElBaradei described the text as reflecting "the collective will of the international community."

Washington had pushed to drop mention of countries' rights to peaceful nuclear technology and fought for an Oct. 31 deadline, with the understanding that if Iran failed to comply the board would then automatically begin deliberations on Security Council referral.

The accepted phrasing instead left it up to the board to debate what action — if any — to take when it reconvenes Nov. 25 should Iran be found to have ignored the demand to freeze enrichment or other conditions.